FRAGILITY
Daye Kim
United Kingdom

Sibling relationships exist at the fragile intersection of intimacy and distance. Derived from sib (kinship) and sibja (blood + « one’s own »), « sibling » embodies a paradox: they are extensions of ourselves yet wholly separate. This creates permeable boundaries where love and rivalry, cooperation and competition flow together.
Inspired by rings in « Portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées and Her Sister, » I use 3D modelling to transform this motif into extreme variations of forms that evolve and distort, mirroring sibling dynamics. Two interconnected rings create a single structure, requiring wearers to negotiate proximity and dependence.
Clear resin casting builds translucent layers where emotions accumulate: affection beneath resentment, loyalty alongside jealousy. Airbrushed colour penetrates transparent surfaces, revealing how feelings stain relationships. The material’s fragility (vulnerability to scratches and yellowing) embodies these precarious bonds.
When worn, the jewellery enforces closeness while revealing constraint. Wearers synchronise movement, acknowledge dependence. The piece becomes a lived diagram: connections that sustain yet restrict, boundaries that protect yet isolate.

Brooch « This relationship is », 2025
37.27 x 37.08 x 42.44 (W x H x D) mm / 5.5 gr
Sterling silver, Clear crystal glass resin
3D programming, airbrush colouring, and silversmithing.

More « FRAGILITY »

Fragility – Deganit S. Shocken / Israel

FRAGILITYDeganit S. SchockenIsraelAgonies of Peace Soup Spoon, Pendant Once a vessel of care and nourishment, the soup spoon is here hollowed out, its bowl carved in negative with the word peace in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Transformed into a pendant, it can no...

Fragility – Saerom Kong / South Korea

FRAGILITYSaerom KongSouth KoreaRice is small and firm, yet fragile. I was drawn to this contradiction and chose rice as the material for my jewelry. Placed upon metal, the grains transform with time and environment, carrying traces of impermanence, life, and memory....

Fragility – Lin Stanionis / USA

FRAGILITYLin StanionisUnited StatesFragility can be described as the condition of being delicate or vulnerable. The works submitted for this exhibition embody these characteristics in their forms and associative meanings. In the work, “Seed of Temptation”,...

Fragility – Ute van der Plaats / Belgium

FRAGILITYUte van der PlaatsBelgiumMy mother was born as a Berglanddeutsche, a German-speaking minority living in the Banat, a region that belongs to Romania since the end of the First World War. In 1944 the family fled from the Russian invasion to Germany. I never got...

Fragility – Alissa Goble / USA

FRAGILITYAlissa GobleUnited StatesObjects have a way of holding stories, carrying traces of memory, family, and identity. I’m drawn to the quiet power of the things we keep close and how they connect us to the past. Through crochet and metalsmithing, I use making as a...

Fragility – Anne Blok / Netherlands

FRAGILITYAnne BlokNetherlandsThe fragile threads of memory Life is fragile; it is temporary and precious. This brooch tells the story of a young life, life in the bud and the rose that never reached full bloom. The brooch tells the story of a thirteen year-old girl....

Fragility – Yasuko Kanno / Japan

FRAGILITYYasuko KannoJapanEven the most perfectly formed creation will one day perish. Glass and ceramics will shatter, metal will rust, and every living being will eventually face death. Although it often happens unexpectedly, in reality, it is predetermined from the...

Fragility – Deimezi Xenia / Greece

FRAGILITYDeimezi XeniaGreeceAt the heart of my work lies a philosophy that embraces the power of emotion as the catalyst for expression. My pieces are narratives, telling stories of the experiences that define us. The need for communication and understanding oneself...

Fragility – Alicia Salcedo / Spain

FRAGILITYAlicia SalcedoSpainProtecting ourselves, seeking refuge, the shell as armor, as protection, as home.The shell that once sheltered its own life now collects a foreign element. A being that occupies an empty space previously inhabited. But it also wears away,...

Fragility – Galit Barak / Israel

FRAGILITYGalit BarakIsraelThe artworks feature red gravel stones arranged on a mesh net facing inwards. These stones were sourced from the area of Al-Kunayyisa, an Arab village that was occupied and ethnically cleansed in 1948. Today, the village's ruins are difficult...